Those barges we wrote about yesterday are finally back in action:

The Coast Guard says it will allow Louisiana vacuum barges to rejoin the containment work in the Gulf of Mexico to clean the BP oil spill. The Coast Guard earlier removed the barges from service because of concerns about stability, and lifesaving and firefighting equipment. The Coast Guard incident commander in Houma, Louisiana, and the Coast Guard captain of the Port of New Orleans, consulted and now are satisfied that their concerns have been address and that the vessels are safe.

This is reminiscent of the bureaucratic delays forced on volunteers for Katrina:

ATLANTA — Hundreds of firefighters who volunteered to help rescue victims of Hurricane Katrina have instead been playing cards, taking classes on FEMA’s history and lounging at an Atlanta airport hotel for days while they await orders.
“On the news every night you hear (hurricane victims say), ‘How come everybody forgot us?’” said Joseph Manning, a firefighter from Washington, Pa. “We didn’t forget. We’re stuck in Atlanta drinking beer.”
As of Tuesday, some of the firefighters, like Thomas Blomgren of Battle Creek, Mich., had waited at the hotel for four days. Now he and a colleague have been told they may be sent to a hurricane relief camp in South Carolina to do paperwork rather than help the devastated Gulf Coast.
“FEMA hired the best of the best firefighters, got them together and gave them secretary jobs,” Blomgren said.
He and colleague Steven Richardson said they followed FEMA’s advice and brought huge packs filled with special firefighting suits, sleeping bags and lifesaving equipment to survive in harsh conditions for as long as a month. “But we’d be better off bringing pencils and cell phones,” Blomgren grumbled.

Does the government ever learn?